In its intent to take on its erstwhile saffron alliance partner and current bitter rival BJP electorally, the Shiv Sena on Sunday announced that it would contest “80 to 90” seats in Uttar Pradesh and 20 seats in Goa in the 2022 State Assembly elections in the two states.
After Shiv Sena’s Uttar Pradesh unit president Thakur Anil Singh went to town saying that his party would contest 403 seats in the northern state to “teach a lesson” to the BJP, Sena’s chief spokesperson and MP Sanjay Raut made a formal announcement that his party would put up candidates in “80 to 90” constituencies in the UP Assembly elections to be held in early 2022.
“We are in talks with several organisations and parties to cobble electoral alliances. Some farmers organizations in Uttar Pradesh have told us that if the Sena contests the polls, they would support us. Even some small parties have offered to support… We intend to contest anywhere from 80 to 90 seats in Uttar Pradesh,” Raut said.
Alluding to the Sena’s plans in Goa, Raut said: “Like in Maharashtra, we are planning to experiment the Maha Vikas Aghadi (an alliance comprising Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress) in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Goa. As of now, I cannot talk much about it. Talks are on among the MVA constituents. You will get to know more about it in the coming days. As Shiv Sena, we intend to contest 20 seats in this state”.
Earlier, in a statement issued after the meeting party’s office bearers, UP Shiv Sena Secretary Vishwajeet Singh said that the Sena – in its effort to “teach a lesson” to BJP -- would contest “almost all the seats” in Uttar Pradesh in the forthcoming Assembly elections.
“Jungle Raj has prevailed under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath during the past four-and-half years. Law and order has broken down in the state. Sisters and daughters are not safe in the state.
“The Yogi Government is indulging in harassment against the Brahmin community,” UP Sena chief Anil Sinha said. “There is no medical infrastructure in the state to fight Covid-19. New vocation in the state is to burn the bodies of the people who die of Covid-19. Even after the Supreme Court verdict, the Yogi government has not announced 15 fees cut in schools. Fee is being collected from students even in schools which are closed due to Covid-19,” Sinha said.
“The people are suffering because of rampant unemployment and price rise. The Yogi government is meting out a step-motherly treatment to farmers and Youngsters,” Sinha added.
This is not for the first time that the Shiv Sena, a regional party that came into existence way back in 1966, is contesting the State Assembly polls outside Maharashtra. In the past, the Sena had contested the State Assembly polls in states like Goa, Karnataka, Delhi, Gujarat,
Bihar, West Bengal and Jammu & Kashmir. However, its electoral performance in all these states was pathetic.
Given that the Congress’ General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi has gone on record saying that it was open to having electoral tie-ups with like-minded parties in Uttar Pradesh, there is strong possibility that the Sonia Gandhi-led party and the Sena will have a seat-sharing arrangement for the Assembly polls in the northern State.